Micah Parsons has barely been available since the blockbuster deal that sent him from Dallas to Green Bay last August, and the knee injury he suffered on Dec. 25 has kept him out of the 2026 NFL regular season entirely so far. Even so, the Packers still look like the clear winners, because the trade gave them a difference-maker they expect back soon - and because the Cowboys keep living with the consequences of moving on from a player in his prime.
Parsons played in just 14 of Green Bay’s 23 games over the last two years, and he still managed 12.5 sacks in 2025 before the injury. The recovery has taken time, but the Packers have every reason to stay confident in the move. Dallas, meanwhile, has had plenty of time to regret it.
The return the Cowboys got is part of why this has only looked worse with time: defensive tackle Kenny Clark, the 2026 first-round pick used on edge rusher Malachi Lawrence, and a 2027 first-round pick. Clark, a three-time Pro Bowler for Green Bay, turned 31 in early October and has three sacks with decent pressure from the inside while working off Quinnen Williams. But Dallas’s new 3-4 base with Christian Parker hasn’t helped either player at end.
Lawrence, taken No. 23 overall after the Cowboys moved up from No. 20 in a trade with the NFC East rival Eagles, also came out of a misstep. Dallas passed on a more natural schematic fit in Akheem Mesidor, who went No. 22 to the Chargers and has been productive supporting Khalil Mack. Lawrence has one sack in five games in a situational role.
The Cowboys still hold that 2027 first-rounder, but they already sent away their own pick when they acquired Williams from the Jets.
Green Bay’s side of the trade earns an A. The Packers have stayed stout against the pass even without Parsons on the field and even after former defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley left to become the Dolphins’ head coach. Jonathan Gannon, the former Cardinals head coach and Eagles’ defensive coordinator who replaced him, has handled the job well.
The numbers back that up. Green Bay ranks fifth in passing yards allowed per game and is tied with Seattle for seventh in sacks with 14 in five games, a 48-sack pace.
With Parsons under Hafley, the Packers produced only 36 sacks. It has been a committee rush, not a one-man show, and that effort has taken another hit with inside linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, who leads the team with three sacks, now out for the season with a torn Achilles’.
Run defense is the one area where Green Bay has not held up nearly as well. The Packers sit 24th there, and that’s not the part of the defense Parsons is built to fix. But when he does return, he’ll be joining a better pressure group under Gannon, which should only raise his impact.
Dallas gets a D. Clark is nearing the end.
Lawrence is just starting. Parsons was dealt at 26, in his absolute prime, and that’s the heart of why this looks so costly.
Keeping Parsons would have made the cap tight, and the Packers made that immediately clear with a four-year, $188 million extension after the trade. That made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history by average annual salary until the Texans gave Will Anderson Jr. a three-year, $150 million extension this April.
The Cowboys do still have one draft pick left in the deal, but the bigger problem is obvious. Parsons is gone, and Dallas has been left with a defense that has fallen apart.
The Cowboys are 21st against the pass in 2026 and have only five sacks, with only the Chiefs and Dolphins worse through five games at four apiece. That follows a drop from 35 sacks last season to a current pace of 17. It’s been a brutal slide since Parsons left.
The run defense has also cratered. Dallas was 23rd against the run last season and is now dead last at No. 32, giving up 168.4 yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry. In Parsons’ final season in Dallas, 2024, the Cowboys ranked 29th against the run.
What Dallas lost goes beyond the numbers. Parsons was the versatile wrecking ball offenses had to plan around every week.
Without him, the Cowboys have been stuck absorbing the weekly damage. That’s why this trade keeps landing on the same verdict: Green Bay won big, and Dallas paid for it.
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